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When Do You Game and for How Long?

DarkShadowXI

DarkShadowXI

Gold Member
When you get older it gets pretty difficult to game consistently. I always wish I had more time to game, but can't seem to find the sweet spot.

Usually I game in the evenings before bed for like 30-60 minutes. My wife and I are hanging out and she's immersed in Pokopia or Animal Crossing while I'm playing a story game.

Weekends are always a roll of the dice. Sometimes I play for a few hours, but most of the time the weekend goes by and I didn't play for even a minute.

I don't really game with friends anymore. Everyone has kids (except me) and is way too busy. Most barely game themselves.

What works for you guys?
 
I try to fit it in whenever I have time, but it's usually late in the evening, and maybe only for 15-30 minutes. Unless the stars align and I have a whole day to myself and no work or chores, then on those rare days I'll play for hours. That only happens a few times a year though.
 
It would be after work normally for a few hours if it's a MP shooter.

Single player offerings is whenever I'm in a mood, usually no longer than a hour at a time.
 
Until three months ago, I lived in a small apartment, and space was something that made it difficult for me to play consistently. My gaming setup was just a small desk, a PS5, and a monitor in the bedroom. Because of that, I couldn't play without disturbing my wife when she wanted to sleep, and we also didn't have enough room for a proper living room.

I moved into a larger house with much more space. I bought a couch, a second air conditioner, an OLED TV, and a PS5 Pro. It's a completely different experience now. I have space, comfort, and I can play freely in the living room when my wife goes to bed. And I've been doing that regularly.

In these three months, I've finished Hades, Saros, and Resident Evil 4 Remake. Life is good.
 
40-something dude with a high stress exec job. I get 1-2 hrs a day on the couch next to my wife every weekday night, Steam Deck or Switch 2. Weekends we do stuff with the kids and/or out of the house, not much gaming time.

I've got a beefy PC (4090 etc) but really don't use it. Owned every console Atari onward, but bought and gave away PS5s twice. Didn't grip me.

5-10 hours a week isn't much, but at this point its plenty.
 
After 10 when kiddo falls asleep. Prolly 2 hours on average during week days, weekend is even less as family time takes most.

Thankfully I have summer break when I don't wanna think shits about professional development or traveling, just play as much as I can for straight two months...
 
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I binge. I have slow periods at (remote) work where I have less than 3 hours of work a day. During those times, if I don't have a bunch of personal stuff to do, I'll play 5-8 hours a day in 2 hour chunks.

When work is busy and/or I have personal stuff to take care of, I sometimes go weeks without playing.
 
It really depends, some days I'm too tired to play anything even if I have time. Other times I can play for long stretches. Typically I play at night, 10pm or later during the week.

But weekends, whenever I can swing it I really enjoy a nice Saturday morning/afternoon session. Makes me feel like a kid again.
 
The finding time to game struggle is incredibly real right now my dudes.

I work full time and my hours are shitty second shift hours because I'm also attending college part time. I have more time than usual right now because of summer break, but I won't have as much time as I would like starting in the fall.

After graduation, I'm hoping to have regular work hours and a lot more time to myself. Two more semesters to go until freedom
Happy The Shawshank Redemption GIF
 
My gaming time is usually before bed, an hour or less most days. Sometimes I'll play more on the weekends if I get the downtime. Steam Deck, Switch 2 and PS Portal have made it so much easier to catch some gaming time.
 
kaizenkko said:
Until three months ago, I lived in a small apartment, and space was something that made it difficult for me to play consistently. My gaming setup was just a small desk, a PS5, and a monitor in the bedroom. Because of that, I couldn't play without disturbing my wife when she wanted to sleep, and we also didn't have enough room for a proper living room.

I moved into a larger house with much more space. I bought a couch, a second air conditioner, an OLED TV, and a PS5 Pro. It's a completely different experience now. I have space, comfort, and I can play freely in the living room when my wife goes to bed. And I've been doing that regularly.

In these three months, I've finished Hades, Saros, and Resident Evil 4 Remake. Life is good.
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Dude that's such a nice upgrade, congrats! That's gotta be such a great feeling.

I'm glad you can finally dive into games now
 
Anytime really and it depends what games have been released, if there isn't any new ones i've bought, it's mostly modded open world games i play for a few hours a day, if it's a new game, i will hammer it more, like i will with Black Flag RS, when that comes out in 4 weeks time.
 
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In theory, I have around 1,5 hours in the evening after all the shit is done that needs to be taken care of.

In practice, by that time I'm so tired and stressed out I can't find the energy to pick up a controller and play.

I can't even play on vacation as I have to follow a strict schedule set by the women in my house.

I resort to shitposting on GAF instead.
 
I'm 35 now and if I'm not working that means I'm gaming so I don't have a specific time. Whenever I'm home from work (shifts) I play. I'm not single now so I have to take the lady out and do stuff :messenger_unamused:
 
short time, max one hour per session. usually take one to three times per day. if it's weekend, i will play more.
but nowadays i can only play for few hours max. i will got eye strain if i continue further. so i play it little by little.
sometimes, i can play for half hours, or even 15 minutes to the next save point.

I work as gamedeveloper, sometimes i play for research, with game similar to i was working for
 
1-2 hours on weeknights, but Sundays i play football (soccer) and veg on the couch after and play for like 4-6 hours lol. Depends though. If its a game im really into ill play 4 hours a night till 1 in the morning and feel like shit at work😂
 
LectureMaster said:
After 10 when kiddo falls asleep. Prolly 2 hours on average during week days, weekend is even less as family time takes most.

Thankfully I have summer break when I don't wanna think shits about professional development or traveling, just play as much as I can for straight two months...
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2 hours is a good enough amount of time to get things done in games. Sometimes I game for 15-30 mins every few days and I feel like I barely progress
 
It depends what mood I'm in tbh. I can go for days without playing a game, then spend hours lost in one. Sometimes I may be half watching something on TV (usually football or some other sport - F1, snooker, darts, etc.,) whilst playing a game on the Portal or Switch 2.

When I play on the TV, it's usually later in the evening when the missus has gone to bed, or at the weekend when I'm in the mood and not busy with other stuff. The missus does work some nights and weekends, so it does allow me a bit of freedom in that respect. Although, I do have a fairly active dog so I need to fit in a good few walks + go to the gym a couple of times a week.

Overall, I feel like I game as much as I need/want to, but not necessarily at the times I'd prefer because of having to balance everything else.
 
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I try to play everynight after the wife and kids go to bed. I however juggle that with sports that may be on.
So for example right now, im probably not gaming on a night where the Finals are on. Thats by choice because if i wanted to do both i could - but i rather lock in. lol
 
other hobbies have taken over + Wife and Kids and training and chores and.....well, being an adult sucks.
This year it was maybe an hour once a week if at all.
There are these rare occasions when I have a day to myself or have old gamerfriends over, then it can get to 5-6 hours on a single day.
 
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I usually play around 3-4 hours on weekdays (give or take), and about an hour of that is during my work commute or lunch break. On weekends it jumps to around 6-8 hours on Saturday and Sunday. So overall, that's roughly 30-40 hours per week of gaming.
 
After work each day from about 6:30 to 8:00 PM and then on the weekends from about 10am to 11:30 and in the evenings from about 7:30 on with a break for supper and an episode of ER.
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Parents learn quickly that games kinda become like sex after a while, ironically, in that you just squeeze in the time wherever you think you can if it won't fuck up your day or stress you out. The wife and I have given up on quickies as we've gotten older, as we like to take our time, and unfortunately I've largely become much the same with games as well. If I don't have at least an hour to myself, I won't even try to get into a game as I'll just feel kind of deflated and frustrated if I play less than that, but stayin up late is out of the question when you have to have the kids to school at 7 am, so there will be weeks at a time, even months, where I never get a chance to game, but then I'll just randomly get enough time to sink 20 plus hours into something in a week, just depends on how it shakes out and what my daughter's got goin that week.

For example, I just finally finished Lost Judgement. I started the game five years ago and have tried to chip away at it whenever I get enough time to do so, and it's a massive game with tons to do, so it took me a bit but my daughter got a pretty chill week for her last week of school, and my work was essentially nada this week, and my wife isn't particularly busy this week for once, so the stars aligned beautifully. Great game btw.

Oh, an exception to this rule, I'll fire up classic fighting games whenever I have fifteen minutes to myself, as those are satisfying to jump into and out of fast. Everything else, I want a little time to get invested.
 
DarkShadowXI said:
Dude that's such a nice upgrade, congrats! That's gotta be such a great feeling.

I'm glad you can finally dive into games now
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Thanks!

It's really nice. My enthusiasm for gaming has been renewed. My life overall has been much better now that I have more space at home, more time to focus on my hobbies, and so on. Coming home, sitting on a big, comfortable couch, turning on the TV, and being able to play comfortably has genuinely changed my life and even improved my mood.

Having dedicated time for both your family and your hobbies is much more important than most people realize.
 
lateley I've been starting games and not finishing them. Unless they are short games.
It's not that I don't like the games, it's just I start other games before finishing the first.
I started Pragmata on release day and still have not finished it. I like the game but I've been so sidetracked playing other games that I probably should start over.
I need to focus on one game at a time. Or at least try and play one at a time.
 
Depending on what chores need to be done around the house, right after that or after work immediately. Mostly I work from 8:30 to 15:00 with 20min commuting. So usually been playing from 17:00 until 20:00 or 22:00 depending on when my wife comes from work. Then catching up with my wife, some TV/streaming, reading, bed. Repeat.

Unless it's weekend or my wife has her day off midweek. For the former, playing from around 10:00 until 15:00. Some chores, reading, playing again from 18 until 20 or wife comes home.
 
Magic Carpet said:
lateley I've been starting games and not finishing them. Unless they are short games.
It's not that I don't like the games, it's just I start other games before finishing the first.
I started Pragmata on release day and still have not finished it. I like the game but I've been so sidetracked playing other games that I probably should start over.
I need to focus on one game at a time. Or at least try and play one at a time.
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I'm in the exact same situation brother. It's been starting to really frustrate me.

The other day I uninstalled and hid everything from my Steam library except for 007 First Light and LEGO Batman. But even then I'm still bouncing back and forth between the two and constantly looking at the Steam store 😢

I think I need to uninstall LEGO Batman and just keep playing 007 until I beat it.

I don't think "only buy a new game when you beat something" will work because I really enjoy chatting up the OTs when a game is brand new. Nothing beats that hype of launch day. That's usually more fun than the game itself lol
 
DarkShadowXI said:
Teach us your ways, Master Splinter

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My weekend always starts on Thursday, so that helps a lot. On top of that, I like to set my alarm and get up early. I'm one of those people who can function just fine on six hours of sleep

Oh, and I don't have any family that's worth visiting, or really any friends. I can't even remember the last time I did something social that wasn't with my coworkers. Lets just say I like being alone.
 
Unless we are playing a game together, I game/play guitar when my girlfriend goes to bed and I can play for 1-2hours until I go to bed. If she works evening/night and I don't have plans with anyone, I can game the whole evening after work or the whole day if I'm on a day off.
 
Thanks to the portability of the Switch 1 & 2 and the PlayStation Portal, I can usually shack up on the couch and play after dinner on week nights until I have to go to bed, other obligations aside (wife, puppy, cats).

On the weekends, I'll sometimes shack up in my game room and play stuff on a big screen, but it's less frequent. My wife and I have weekends off so that's when we have errands to run and make plans with friends.
 
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Like many of you, I can squeeze in a few hours a week at the most if I'm lucky. The length of some of these games makes it feel extra daunting to try jumping in at all. I started Cyberpunk last year and still haven't finished it after over a hundred hours on it. Meanwhile I was able to squeeze in Requiem and Jedi Survivor this past year as they were much shorter. Excited to get into 007 next. Crimson Desert looks like a great game, but I just can't commit to playing it for over a year.

Maybe Poodaddy is on to something, and I need to squeeze in some rounds of Street Fighter here and there when I can't commit to a longer session.

While I could maybe squeeze in 30 minute chunks here and there, it feels like the first 30 mins just allows your brain to get settled into the experience and you're leaving before you even really started.
 
I retired after I sold my company a couple of years ago, so I have plenty of time for it, fortunately. Will typically play a couple of hours a day, but can be more if I lose track of time. I generally prefer the evenings cos it can feel a bit zombifying just sitting on the couch during the day. When you retire in your early 40s you have to make an effort to keep busy and active etc.
 
I dream and think about playing but end up not playing. Definitely do not have consistent playtime thesedays - that less energy and less mental capacity to focus on it.
When I do, I tend to go all the way. Often lasting 4+ hours per day till I get it done and finished.... and usually take another month or two of not playing anything at all, doing other things.
I usually take turns of doing different things - learning a new recipe for food, building a small project (which more often that I don't end up using much) around the house, etc etc.

Used to feel like I'm falling behind of gaming scene - but I am okay with it. I like what I like, and I like doing other things too.
 
Reading through the thread, all of us are mostly old heads huh.

But yeah, im about the same. 2 hours at most before bed, usually some MOBA game, i won't lie.

Just easier than trying to rush through a single player game in a couple of hours.
 
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